IRS Transcipt

[PaulF]

Will the IRS transcript show line items on a Schedule E for depreciation and repairs?

I have a new client whose husband died unexpectedly and the prior years tax returns were done by the husband on Turbo Tax and the computer crashed and no backups were made. They have two rental properties and I want to find out the amount of the basis in the rentals to complete the 2012 return. The client wants to avoid paying the $57 for a complete copy of prior year tax returns if possible.

[Lion]

I hope you're charging her more than $57 for your research!

[AZ-Tax]

Transcripts

I had a client last year go to VITA thinking she can drop some of the tax stuff like she does with me, then come back and drop off the rest. Well VITA prepared her tax return after the first visit she claims and she also claimed she never received a copy of her tax return therefore she had to order a Transcript from the IRS. It was rather easy with no depreciations but still it was a PAIN IN THE you know what to try to recreate her tax return so I could amend it.

[smithtax]

Yes, a Tax Return Transcript will show all details of the return.

[Burke]

Not in my experience. It only shows Line #'s and total amounts. Finally had to have the executor for the deceased request and pay for
($54) a full printed copy of return. And then it only showed that year's totals on the 4562 and the type taken. But at least we finally had the preparer's name and address and we could go to them for the backup info. Transcript only showed the preparer EIN.

[AZ-Tax]

I scan all Tax Return after TP's & I sign.

I scan all Tax Returns after TP &(spouse if applicable) & I sign and beginning in tax year 2013, I will reserve the right to charge $25 to send a PDF thru email. $65 if I need to mail a paper copy.

Forgot, this year my cover client letter has a line the taxpayer will sign verifyig that he or she received a paper copy of their tax return. Last year I had an older taxpayer who does not have email, live 20 mi away and would ot drive to my office, tell me he didnt receive a copy of his tax return therefore I had to print a copy, drive to the post office and mail it certified mail. This signature will hopefully take care of that.

[FEDUKE404]

My clients would flee

I scan all Tax Returns after TP &(spouse if applicable) & I sign and beginning in tax year 2013, I will reserve the right to charge $25 to send a PDF thru email. $65 if I need to mail a paper copy.

I think I would soon be out of business if I took that approach. . .

Virtually all of my clients have their tax return copy/records sent back to them by snail mail, and many/most of them somewhere along the way get a PDF copy of certain items upon request. My software will generate all of the copies (forms/worksheets/invoices/cover letters) I want as a PDF file without any "scanning" required on my part.

The only signatures that lurk in my files are those on the Form 8879, and hopefully another on a payment check to me. Even there, some clients are already paying me electronically.

It is amazing what you can stuff into a $5.60 USPS flat rate priority mailer w/tracking, and I can prepare/send email in far less time than it took me to type these four sentences.

FE

[Black Bart]

Lion's right. If your client has two rental properties and is balking at 57 bucks for old papers, it's a good bet they won't pay you anything like what it's going to be worth -- better settle on the fee right up front before jumping in.

Too, getting the transcript's no walk in the park at this time of the year. I was on hold with PPS (866-860-4259) for 45 minutes this morning (they said 15 minutes at the start) trying to get 4 prior years' wage & income transcripts; this was followed by prolonged haggling with a royally sarcastic b***h whose tone made it perfectly clearly that all this was bothering her. After putting me on hold three more times to consult with somebody who actually knew something and counting fax time; I finally had papers in hand after 1 1/4 hours. And, I'm charging my carefree client (threw away all his papers) $350 for each year.

But (having vented ), about your question -- no, I don't know about the line by line stuff 'cause mine weren't tax returns and I haven't ordered any for a long time; however even if they do, I can't imagine you'd get anything like depreciation details (probably just the one total figure of the years' depreciation).

I don't know how busy the general public's transcript line (800-908-9946) is (who knows -- maybe it's quicker than ours).

[smithtax]

Not in my experience. It only shows Line #'s and total amounts. Finally had to have the executor for the deceased request and pay for
($54) a full printed copy of return. And then it only showed that year's totals on the 4562 and the type taken. But at least we finally had the preparer's name and address and we could go to them for the backup info. Transcript only showed the preparer EIN.

I'm not familiar with your experience, but if you look close enough the Tax Return Transcript lists items line by line from the Schedule E. I agree the line items reflect only line totals, but the OP simply asked if the transcript showed line items for depreciation and repairs.

I wouldn't waste my time with PPS. Use E-Services with a valid POA. Tax Return Transcripts are only available for the current and preceding 3 years.

Even if you pay the $57 for each year I doubt it would contain a detailed depreciation schedule listing individual assets and accumulated depreciation.

[PaulF]

Update

Thank you for all of your replies.

I suggested to my client to contact Intuit and explain her situation and see if they could help her out.

Intuit gave my client the ability to log on to their servers and download the previous seven years of tax returns in PDF, and they did not charge her!

So, this avoided a long drawn out process.

In response to a previous post about my client balking at paying the IRS for prior returns and her willingness to pay me. She is the daughter-in-law of a long time client and I quoted her a very high fee up front for all the possible time involved and she was fine with it. She, like so many other people, has an aversion to how our government works in general, and the IRS in particular, and did not want to pay them another penny!

[Burke]

I suggested to my client to contact Intuit and explain her situation and see if they could help her out.
Intuit gave my client the ability to log on to their servers and download the previous seven years of tax returns in PDF, and they did not charge her!

Wow, that is great. Did not know they could do that. But you will still probably have to reconstruct the depr to get the basis.

[FEDUKE404]

Intuit can retrieve old tax data?

Thank you for all of your replies.

I suggested to my client to contact Intuit and explain her situation and see if they could help her out.

Intuit gave my client the ability to log on to their servers and download the previous seven years of tax returns in PDF, and they did not charge her!

So, this avoided a long drawn out process.

In response to a previous post about my client balking at paying the IRS for prior returns and her willingness to pay me. She is the daughter-in-law of a long time client and I quoted her a very high fee up front for all the possible time involved and she was fine with it. She, like so many other people, has an aversion to how our government works in general, and the IRS in particular, and did not want to pay them another penny!

Color me dense, but how in the world would Intuit have access to historical client tax return information????

That is a very scary thought.

FWIW: I'm not sure merely seeing an old Sch E, or even a Form 4562, will provide the information you need. (Why not have Intuit provide the annual data files instead?) But at least it is a start.

FE

[PaulF]

The husband had used Turbo Tax to prepare the tax returns in all the prior years.

Hopefully I can back into the basis of the rental properties by seeing how much was depreciated each year on the Schedule E.

[FEDUKE404]

Interesting

The husband had used Turbo Tax to prepare the tax returns in all the prior years.

Hopefully I can back into the basis of the rental properties by seeing how much was depreciated each year on the Schedule E.

I assume you mean ONLINE TurboTax (did not purchase/install the actual software) ???

Even so, if you ask the questions the right way, the underlying depreciation figures (asset/asset life history/etc) might also be available from Intuit. My guess is Intuit did not have a "PDF copy" of the relevant tax returns just lying around in their computers, but instead created one FROM the data file they (apparently) do have. It's worth a try..."send me the data file, please!" I'm sure you could find someone with TTax software on their personal computers that could read those files.

Plan B would be "Can you generate the 20xx depreciation summary for me?"

FE